Fracking-waste de-icer banned

KINGSTON — Ulster County Executive Mike Hein signed an executive order Thursday banning the purchase or use of liquid waste from fracking as a de-icing agent on county roads and other surfaces.

BY MICHAEL RANDALL

KINGSTON — Ulster County Executive Mike Hein signed an executive order Thursday banning the purchase or use of liquid waste from fracking as a de-icing agent on county roads and other surfaces.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — which uses water, sand and chemicals to extract gas from underground shale — also yields a liquid waste, or brine, that can be used as an alternative to road salt. Some of the chemicals, Hein said, are known to cause cancer.

Hein said the county has never bought or used brine, but people have expressed concern about the practice and its possible effect on the environment. With Thursday's order, he said, "It will be impossible for hydraulic fracturing materials to be used on our roadways."

Hein issued the order five days before an Ulster County Legislature public hearing on a local law that would accomplish essentially the same goal. But Hein said his order will complement the Legislature's work, not pre-empt it.

Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo, R-Accord, issued a statement saying, "I am pleased the county executive is now on board and we all see this issue the same way. We look forward to enacting a permanent law on this that cannot be reversed by a future county executive."

At the order-signing at the county Public Works Department, Hein said the final version of the local law could address additional issues raised during the hearing.